Everything about tires for LR4/ LR3 with 18" wheels

[Adrenalinsports]

Bushman, did you black out your rear tail lights? If so how did you do it? I have been wanting to do that to mine.

 

[kevinkelley]

Tomorrow I will finally be mounting my new 18" Compomotive's with some 265/65R18 BF Goodrich A/T KO2's.

I've had the Compo 18"s sitting in the garage staring at me everyday while waiting for the new KO2's to come out!

Anyone running 265/65R18 BF Goodrich A/T KO's, what PSI are you running? Or anyone with a comparable 10 ply / E load tire what PSI would you recommend?

Also - I know I'm going to have to air down my spare pretty low to try and fit it in, is it going to throw a TPMS error?

Thanks guys!

P_J_F, What made you decide on the 265/65s? I've had enough time to think about my configuration with the help from this thread and Umberto; i was certain on my decision 285/60s on compo 18s. But since checking back-in and reading recent posts....dam!...I'm not so sure so thank you all! Lol. Would love some help re-deciding as I need to order the tires as my compos will be delivered within the next week or two.

Live in the north east so factor in about 4 months of cold rain and snow. Wheeling in Rausch Creek, PA has mud, mud and oh... More mud. Sharp as heck rock, wet brush etc... I haven't found other places to wheel beside Rausch but figure any place in the north east will be the same. It is also my everyday vehicle. I camp when I go wheeling typically with family, all 5 which means I have heavy load on top. I thought a wider tire would be good for snow, mud etc... I also like the look. Since side wall is about the same, a fraction better with 265/65s I guess it comes down to being able to access "access" mode as I have to park in a commuter garage. Ceiling height is 8'2" (lowest) but with roof rack, looking through the sunroof, it is scary with only a few inch from taking out fire pipes and seriously damaging the truck. So I typically throw it in access mode if I have to drive into the belly of the garage. Spaces closer to the entrance, ceiling height is more like 15'. Does anyone know if access mode is accessible with 285/60s on; driving slow and turns (not worried about slight rub as this will eventually go away over time)?

I was thinking of getting the BFG KO2 people have been raving about, also considered the Nitto Tara Grappler. I'm interested in anyone's thoughts/recommendations when you factor everything in.

 

[jwest]

I put about 15,000 miles on my BFG TA KO 265/65R18.( highway, city and regular off road driving) I do 5 tire rotation pattern. So far so good. On the street I run 42 PSI front and 48 back ( cold tire pressure). When off roading I air down to 30-35 PSI ( hot tire pressure) for better comfort. It works for me.

Sounds like good highway pressure for mostly stock lr4. Could try a little less off road.

 

[jwest]

Live in the north east so factor in about 4 months of cold rain and snow. Wheeling in Rausch Creek, PA has mud, mud and oh... More mud. Sharp as heck rock, wet brush etc... I haven't found other places to wheel beside Rausch but figure any place in the north east will be the same. It is also my everyday vehicle. I camp when I go wheeling typically with family, all 5 which means I have heavy load on top. I thought a wider tire would be good for snow, mud etc... I also like the look. .

Wider is worse for snow and mud generally too. Wider is really only better for flotation on lots of sand. 265/65x18 is perfect for the uses you describe.

If you're getting the compos, then you'll get enough of the "look" simply by the wider offset. Same thing, even more, is achieved by using the 30mm spacers on factory wheels or 9" wide 20" wheels with standard wider offset such as a Supercharged specific wheel.

If I could figure out how to upload a photo here without having to first upload it to an offsite location, I would. I'm using 30mm Terrafirma spacers behind factory 18" with 275/65x18 BFG KO2. Flush and pretty awesome look, although I tried the spacers more for clearance and stability reasons.

 

[jwest]

My LR4 has just about every off road modification I can think of done to it.
I also have Johnson Rods on full time. All of these makes the LR4 feel very spongy on the highway. My kids seem to get car sick easy in my LR4 when I am on windy roads. Also pulling a trailer on the freeway is a little scary now.

If I am being honest the only reason I run the Rods full time is because I like the looks of the LR4 at the off road height. And the extra 1/2 lift more than the GAP tool is nice also. The inside fenders have been trimmed enough that on the streets I used to run in stock height even with the 275/65R18's. And then off road I would use the gap tool to lift it. If I didn't have to change the alignment I would for sure only use the GAP Tool and run it around town with the 2 inch lift then for road trips lower it to stock height because it performs better at highway speeds when its at stock height.


The previous owner put the Kaymar bumper on re-welded and moved the spare tire carrier to the drivers side so you get the full view out the drop on the passenger side of the rear window. .... Opening the spare tire carrier latch bothers my wife when she wants to load grocery's and such in the back.

Then also put a normal spare tire under it again so I can limp to a tire store if I got a flat tire.
.

LIFT:
You should really get rid of those "rods". Get the LLAMS. Gives you all the benefits of rods on demand without the stupid impractical and dangerous aspects. -20, +30mm or +50mm on demand at any speed. This means leave alignment as factory spec for the best handling of the heavy loads at highway speeds for less motion sick kids, and absolutely safer dynamics.

Do you really need the vehicle to "look" like anything when you're in it on the highway?! get real ... YOU cannot see how it looks Want to roll around town looking tough, well then LLAMS it up to +50mm. In fact, never ever need to lower more than the factory low? Then use the GAP tool to +20mm. Then use LLAMS to choose from it's 3 settings, the first of which (-20mm) will actually put you back at original height for highway and mtn cruising. Then you'll have up to +70mm for off road plus factory lever but you'll run out of height as there is no way to go higher than the true physical limits.

I find the best combination is to allow some drop from factory for truly twisty mtn roads when I have the rack and RTT and Pelican on the roof with awning walls and RTT annex inside it. Like you, my fender interiors now allow for the 32" tire and normal heigh, lower in fact, without issues on all paved roads unless it's a curb cut or crazy parking deck ramp during a tight turn.

With the LLAMS you can choose -20mm on the fly but you can first set the vehicle to +10mm if you want just a bit higher around town and only effective -10mm on the mtn roads (+10GAP -20LLAMS = -10true from "normal")

KAYMAR:
I had my tire carrier stay on the right but moved inboard about 6" just enough to allow full visibility of the right rear tail lamps. I did this for a couple reasons. I think it's safer/better but also looks much better sort of toward the middle. Similar to how my Disco 1 and 2 both look with it on the door. Although I think it's the dumbest thing in the world to have the tire on the right side when now the window is actually designed for a left hand drive market. The previous generations were designed for right drive with sight line over left shoulder and out left rear window. Now we look over the right sitting up high and see a tire or try to look sort of through it. (for those without cameras)
Otherwise, I do like the tire on the right because with the shape of the upper tailgate, I don't have to wing out the left jerry can holder in order to open the top half of hatch. I make just 2 movements to access the cargo area: 1st, swing out right hand carrier (tire), then 2nd lift open hatch.
If you had 2 carriers and they were swapped, you would be forced into 3 motions: both carriers because left one with tire will not allow hatch to open and if jerry can on right, hatch would still not open because of depth of hatch and height of jerry can. Make sense ?

I also have a custom 2" receiver for bike rack mounted into the end of the right hand tire carrier arm. This allows the bike rack such as my Thule T2 XTR+2 to swing out with bikes and all in one unlatch motion. It's kind of awesome and very simple design.

The jerry can holder will accomodate standard metal jerry can 20L. I also found out recently that it will hold perfectly 2 nested plastic Rotopax 3 gal each. Water or fuel versions. This is nice for extra fuel, or in my case water having 52 gallons already underneath.

Spare Tire:
a size other than same exact rolling diameter sounds like very terrible idea so I hope what you meant was either narrower or something else. Our vehicles really need same size tires. Remove the fiber heat shield underneath and make the 265/65x18 fit somehow.

 

[Surfrider77]

You guys are talking about fender arch mods to accommodate 275/65 18" tires. In my experience, the limiting factor of tire diameter is the stupid frame horns. Have you guys modified those at all to fit the bigger (275/65) tires?

Anyone have a spare modded Kaymar they want to sell?

 

[jwest]

You guys are talking about fender arch mods to accommodate 275/65 18" tires. In my experience, the limiting factor of tire diameter is the stupid frame horns. Have you guys modified those at all to fit the bigger (275/65) tires?

Anyone have a spare modded Kaymar they want to sell?

You are correct about that being the most important single item. My frame and rear lines and bulges have all been modified. Not sure who you're referring to ...?

 

[Adrenalinsports]

jwest do you have photos of your rear carrier? Thats a great idea to mount the bike rack to the tire carrier. I bought and extended hitch to use my bike rack. Your idea is much better.

Any recommendation on where to by the LLAMS? That is also the best solution. Thanks for the ideas.

 

[jwest]

Here are some very old photos. It's basically a bar that slides into the rectangular shape of the carrier almost perfectly with a 2" receiver welded to it.

http://www.jwestproductions.com/personal/lr3/

A few things to note:
-bar insert is practically snug without bolts but we installed a Thule style way of locking it.
-2" receiver, care must be taken to align it with the vehicle, not the carrier arm which is at an angle to the X/Y of vehicle.
-take into consideration the size of largest tire you plan to use. I had to flip the 3 bolt mount in the kaymar to make the 32" 275/65x18 fit. This obviously more a factor of how far inboard the vertical tire carrier is relocated from kaymar's outboard factory location.
-location of pin will determine the distance away/to the rear you bike carrier ends up placing bikes or folds against the tire. If the pin is too close to the hatch/tailgate in the front to rear dimension, you bike rack will not fold as it hits the tire. My Thule folds up with 1" to spare.


LLAMS - direct from them.

 

[jwest]

Forgot to mention that you can also pretty easily use the Thule or other brands of the tire mounted racks that are usually for 2, maybe 3 at most and can really work quite well for nearly zero hassle.

I forget how they lock but it goes through the center, oh yeah, it has a backing plate that mounts between wheel and the wheel mount, then the rack mounts into and locks with that part.

Cannot work in conjunction with the Kaymar locking center pass through but I never did like how the kaymar required their weird lug nuts.

I had a downhill bike and a light xc bike on the one in the photos before I figured out the receiver swing away mount. The spare can be removed without removing bikes...

My standard bike rack back there now though is the lateral tray style Thule T2 XTR for 2 or 4 bikes if using the extension.

Oh, another benefit of this route, the bikes end up quite high off the ground so even in pretty crazy terrain, you'd keep them from dragging. Even higher if using the hanger style as seen in the photo page 1st image with the old Bianchi hard tail